Essex is a county with a rich historical heritage. Many of its towns can trace roots back to the times of the Roman Empire, with Colchester at one time being the capital of Roman Britain. The area and status of the future county really began to develop after Roman times as Saxon invaders came and settled, the name Essex coming from ‘Land of the East Saxons.’ Its landscape has been the scene of many battles and fortress building, before and after the Norman invasion of 1066.
By the 19th century, with the rise of London as the most important city in the country, Essex and its towns were well placed to rapidly develop, helped not least by the expansion of the railways. It was in Chelmsford where one of the first radio broadcasts were made and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi built the first radio factory there.
The post war period saw rapid growth in the region, with several ‘new towns’ appearing, such as Basildon and Harlow while already existing ones, such as Romford and Barking, increased massively in size. Standsted Airport’s first terminal was opened in 1969 and has since been redeveloped making the airport one of the major London connections, handling millions of passengers a year; a fact that underlines Essex’s status as a thriving modern county.
